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Friday, 3 July 2009

Jews Increasingly Oppose Zionism

When I was younger, in the 1960s and 70's, the number of Jewish opponents of Zionism could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Very few Jews or Israelis stood up to be counted.

Today more and more Jews have come to realise that the Jewish tradition of fighting racism is incompatible with supporting Zionism and the Israeli state. Where is the difference between 'Death to the Arabs' and 'Death to the Jews'? Where is the difference between forbidding Jews to own land or property in Germany and forbidding them to own 'national' land in Israel?

Israel is defined as a Jewish state, i.e. a state not of its own citizens but of Jews worldwide. It is no different from the concept of the Aryan state whereby Germans living anywhere were entitled to be nationals of the 1,000 year Reich but Jews were stripped in 1935 by the Reich Citizenship Law of their German citizenship.

One of the most wonderful things therefore is not only the number of Jews who come out as fully fledged anti-Zionists but the even greater number who consider themselves as non-Zionists. In the USA it is clear that the majority of Jews are much further to the left than their 'representatives' in AIPAC (America-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the Conference of Major Jewish Organisations. Jews and 'anti-Semitism' are used as the figleaf for pro-imperialist politics, thus endangering Jews as some people will inevitably conclude that being Jewish and supporting Zionism are one and the same.

I enclose the introduction to 'Jews Confront Zionism' and the link will take you to the full article.

One of the main accomplishments of the Israeli government¹s bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip last winter was to inspire new vitality within leftist and peace groups in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation. This wave of activity has continued after the supposed ceasefire, with demonstrations and direct actions from New York to Los Angeles, Paris, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv. Most noteworthy has been a coming out of sorts of an increasingly large and vocal segment of the Jewish world that is not only opposed to the Israeli government¹s wars and military occupations, but critical of Zionism itself.